Impact of multiple fires on stand structure and tree regeneration in central Appalachian oak forests

Impacts of Wildfire Recency and Frequency on an Appalachian Oak Forest

“…In a postwildfire study of oak forests in the Ridge and Valley province of Pennsylvania, Signell et al (2005) found little sapling regeneration of any species in unburned stands and abundant oak saplings in burned stands. The oak saplings in the burned stands appeared to be associated with areas of lower canopy and subcanopy tree density in their study area (Signell et al 2005).…”

First signs of old-growth structure and composition of an oak forest after four decades of abandonment

“…In several North American oak forests different maple (Acer saccharum Marshall, A. rubrum L.) and other shade-tolerant species gain ground in the subcanopy layer (Lorimer 1984, Pallardy et al 1988, Shotola et al 1992, Goebel & Hix 1996, McCarthy & Bailey 1996, Abrams et al 1997, Lin & Augspurger 2008. The transitional nature of oak forests are often explained by the exclusion of fire in North America in the last century (Abrams 1992, McCarthy et al 2001, Shumway et al 2001, Signell et al 2005, except oak forests on xeric sites, which experiences less successional pressure (Abrams et al 1997). In Europe, one of the leading theories is the wood-pasture concept (Vera 2000), which…”

Fire in upper Midwestern oak forest ecosystems: an oak forest restoration and management handbook

“…4). Here, fire regulates the balance between oaks and maples and other mesic forest species (Henderson and Long 1984, Holzmueller et al 2009, Hutchinson et al 2008, Lorimer 1985, McCarthy et al 2001, McClain et al 2006, Signell et al 2005. Because it takes three to four decades for understory maple saplings to develop bark thick enough to resist a fire, a variation in fire interval causing a single 50-year interval, even if the mean interval is 20 years, will allow maples to establish and reach a size refuge, and shorter fire intervals going on for decades or centuries until the old maples have died would then be necessary to get rid of them unless they are mechanically or chemically removed.…”

“…Burns in such stands will not be successful at allowing oaks to establish unless the understory layer is removed, so that light levels increase (Signell et al 2005). In contrast, the disturbance regime of presettlement forests of the central and Eastern United States included patches of…”